In the first two years of life, a baby goes through many challenging phases, almost like in a video game with several levels! Each stage represents a new discovery, despite the false idea that, in the first months, the baby does not learn many things and all they do is sleep and eat. It is precisely at this stage that they are more open to learning, absorbing every single experience, and everything they have access to.
Learning is gradual
An important step in the development of the baby is learning colors and shapes, which consequently leads the baby to learn other things, such as forming sentences, word orders, adjectives, learning to paint, and assembling puzzles. At four months, the little one begins to notice the colors, but it will take more time for them to be able to see them clearly. Connecting the colors to their names will take another couple of months, as they still don’t understand the meaning of words, as, for them, it is still an abstract concept. When the time comes in their toddler years, it is good to work a color each time and with enough repetition so that it can associate the word with the color name.
Toys that stimulate learning
Toys help a lot in the cognitive development and rational utilization of babies, and they can be good tools for them to learn colors, and explore their senses, and textures – these are the characteristics of the more stimulating ones. Puzzles, toys with shape formats, and with different colors are good choices to engage your little one. Our hands and our fingers connect directly with our brain, particularly the thumb; this means, that when children play with toys, and move and explore them, it is an adventure when they make numerous discoveries.
Teach one color and shape at a time
In the first years of life, the baby will develop their skills gradually. In the beginning, the ideal is to use toys of primary colors, joyful and vibrant so that they can capture toys in motion and concentrate. Indeed, it is proven that vibrant colors get more attention, and kids love just love them. According to specialists, red is the first color that babies can see with clarity after contrasts of black and white. Use different objects of the same color and then the same objects of different colors, until they learn to associate them. Then you can use this same approach with shapes.
It is not a coincidence that everything related to children is so colorful. Even my hair =) Although people tend to use pastel colors for babies as they are considered calming colors, it is also important to include vibrant colors as they foster great interest and curiosity.
 Use colorful rattles and rings, leaving them within proximity for them to reach and play. Parents and caregivers should also make an effort to always point out the colors when naming them, during play, or during a diaper change or mealtime.
Geometric shapes such as squares, triangles, and stars help the baby learn the formats, have a notion of space, and retain attention, are excellent options for toys. They will soon start organizing the information, refining their knowledge about colors, textures, and shapes of objects, and building their sensory perception, as well as their early mathematical concepts, such as sorting, and reasoning.
